2010 International Conference on Web Information Systems and Mining

Hybrid MATLAB and LabVIEW to Implement Single Neuron PID in Foundation

Fieldbus Remote Control System

Yang Ding, Bin Sun, Xiaofeng Ye, Jiadong Xu

College of Metrology and Measurement Engineering
China Jiliang University
Hangzhou 310018, China
bsun555@cjlu.edu.cn

AbstractTo achieve intelligent control algorithm in
Foundation Fieldbus process control system, a method which
combines LabVIEW and MATLAB to design a real time
intelligent control system is presented in this paper. The single
neuron PID control algorithm programmed in MATLAB can
be stimulated by LabVIEW SIT, the communication between
LabVIEW and fieldbus instruments can be established by
OPC Server. The human machine interface is implemented
based on the excellent interface building ability of LabVIEW,
and the HMI can be published to the internet to achieve
remote control. Through the single neuron PID control of
linear flow rate and nonlinear tank level, good real-time ability
and effectiveness are verified. Experiment results show that the
single neuron PID controller based on hybrid MATLAB and
LabVIEW has quick control response and small steady-state
error. Further more, this method can cover the control
algorithm shortage of Foundation Fieldbus.
Keywords-Single Neuron PID; Foundation Fieldbus;
MATLAB
control the pipe flow rate and the level of a nonlinear tank.
MATLAB/Simulink is used to build the single neuron PID
controller; Smar System 302 is used to configure the FF
devices; LabVIEW is used to program the human machine
interface (HMI). By combining HMI and single neuron PID
control algorithm with SIT (Simulation Interface Toolkit),
the control and monitoring of the field devices are achieved.
The communication between host computer and field devices
is set up by OPC technology. Further more, the HMI is
published to internet through web-server to achieve remote
control.
II. SINGLE NEURON PID CONTROLLER
Single neuron PID controller has a simple structure and
can control systems with nonlinearity and uncertain
parameters well [2]. Fig.1 shows the structure.

I. INTRODUCTION
Foundation Fieldbus (FF) is one of the most vibrant
fieldbus technologies today. It has become irreplaceable in
the process control domain during more than ten years rapid
developing. It has many advantages such as reduced cabling, Figure 1. The structure diagram of single neuron PID controller.
ease of system diagnosis and maintenance and also reduced
commissioning time and cost for industrial plant [1]. The calculous part which has shown in the figure
Foundation Fieldbus is playing an increasingly important calculates three variables:
role in industrial control. However, conventional control
algorithms such as PID which used in FF system cant meet x1 (k ) = e(k )
the need if the plant is nonlinear, multivariable coupling and
x2 (k ) = e(k ) = e(k ) e(k 1) (1)
time-varying. For this reason, intelligent control algorithm
should implement into FF system in order to make a good x3 (k ) = 2e(k ) = e(k ) 2e(k 1) + e(k 2)
control performance on these complicated plants.
Using artificial neural network to control an object is an x1, x2 and x3 are the inputs of the controller, u(k) is the out
important field of intelligent control. Single neuron PID put of the controller, K is the proportionality coefficient, i is
control algorithm can adjust PID parameters adaptively to the weight of the inputs signal which presents the signal
meet the need of control effect and control precision without strength. x1, x2, x3 are added after weighting. Improved Hebb
considering the mathematical model of the system. learning algorithm is used here. The updating roles of i are
Comparing to the conventional PID control algorithm, single as follows:
neuron PID control algorithm is easy to tune the parameters, 1 (k ) = 1 (k 1) + P e(k )u (k )[e(k ) e(k )]
and presents better response and robustness.
In this paper, a single neuron PID controller is 2 (k ) = 2 (k 1) + i e(k )u(k )[e(k ) e(k )] (2)
implemented into Foundation Fieldbus control system to

978-0-7695-4224-9/10 $26.00 2010 IEEE 187

DOI 10.1109/WISM.2010.78
 3 (k ) = 3 (k 1) + d e(k )u(k )[e(k ) e(k )]
P , i and d present the learning rates of proportion,
integral and derivative. These weight variables can be chosen
as the status variables of the system. Then the control rate
can be written as follow:
3 supervision package [4].
u (k ) = u (k 1) + K i0 (k )xi (k ) (3)
i =1
Due to its modular structure, it can be placed inside panels in
the control room or sealed boxes in field. Highly expandable,
it is targeted to applications ranging from small standalone
systems to large and complex plants. The use of leading
technologies as OPC (OLE for Process Control) makes the
DFI302 the most flexible fieldbus interface in the market.
The OPC server allows the DFI302 to be connected to any

In the formula, normalized weight is:

i (k ) (4)
i0 (k ) = 3

(k )
i =1
3

The meaning of input and output of the single neuron is

equivalent to a normal PID controller, while the weights can
be adjusted adaptively by optimization algorithms[3].
Because of this, single neuron PID controller presents
excellent robustness.

III. FOUNDATION FIELDBUS INTELLIGENT REMOTE

CONTROL SYSTEM(FFIRCS)

A. Structure
FFIRCS consists of pipes, reservoir, tank, level meter, FF
electromagnetic flow meter (E+H Promag 53), FF digital
valve controller (Fisher DVC6010F), Foundation Fieldbus
universal bridge (Smar DFI302), frequency converter
(Omron 3G3MZ) and water pump. The frequency converter
drives the pump to pump the water from the reservoir to the
tank above. Under the tank, there is a valve that can make the
water in the tank get back to the reservoir. Besides that, there
is a level meter at the bottom of the tank. And the
electromagnetic flow meter and digital valve controller
which connected to the FF H1 network are implemented in
the pipes. The output of the level meter is 4-20mA signal
which transmitted to the analog input module DF44. Internet
is used to build the communication between host computer
and DFI302 that makes remote control possible. Smar
System302 is used to configure the Foundation Fieldbus Figure 2. The architecture of FFIRCS
devices; the write/read data from fieldbus are bound to the
The FF H1 network is formed by DFI302, digital valve
indicators or controls of LabVIEW; the single neuron PID
controller and electromagnetic flow meter. At the end of the
controller is programmed by MATLAB/Simulink; the
network BT302 (terminal resistance) is implemented. And
indicator and control in the HMI are linked to the input and
the output of level meter is linked to the analog input module
output of Simulink control model. When click the run
DF44. Then System 302 (7.0.5 Release) is used to configure
button of the HMI in LabVIEW environment, the single
all the devices.
neuron PID controller program of Simulink model will be
stimulated, and the HMI will be published to the internet by System302 is a high integrated software developed by
web-server. The architecture of FFIRCS is shown in Fig.2. Smar, it includes Syscon (Foundation Fieldbus configuration
module), LogicView (IEC-61131 Language logic compiler
B. Configuration of Foundation Fieldbus H1 module), AssetView (HART and Foundation Fieldbus
The Foundation Fieldbus bridge DFI302 is used in the equipment management module) and OPC server. At the
system. DFI302 is a key-interfacing element in the same time, it is based on TCP/IP; the customer can control
distributed architecture of field control systems. It combines and monitor the devices through internet. At first, open the
powerful communication features with direct I/O access and FBTools Wizard to confirm the internet connection between
advanced control for discrete and continuous applications. DFI302 and host computer; using Syscon to configure the

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Foundation Fieldbus devices after confirming all the devices
DD (Device Description) files are loaded. Then add the FF
bridge DF51, electromagnetic flow meter and digital valve
controller into the fieldbus network.
After setting the parameters of Resource Block and
Transducer Block of different devices, add AI function block
of DF51 and set the CHANNEL parameter of the block
according to the realistic situation of slot and channel, then
add AI function block of Promag 53, AO function block of
Fisher DVC6010F. Set MODE_BLK, XD_SCALE,
PV_SCALE and other related parameters of AI and AO
blocks.
Figure 3. The configuration information of Foundation Fieldbus
Figure 4. Punlished website of HMI
The changing of process values and valve position
values will be shown in the human machine interface once
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The communication can be set up after downloading the
configuration information of the system to the field devices.
Click export tags and update OPC Database, the value
and status of each parameter can be updated, looked up and
changed on line. The configuration information of
Foundation Fieldbus is shown in Fig.3.
C. Hybrid Programming of MATLAB and LabVIEW
In this paper, SIT (Simulation Interface Toolkit) is used
to establish the seamless connection between LabVIEW and
MATLAB. SIT is a toolkit which developed by NI (National
Instruments) to interact with Simulink.
Firstly, build single neuron PID controller model in
Simulink. Secondly, build human machine interface in
LabVIEW with DSC module (Datalogging and Supervisory
Control Module). At last, map the setpoint, PV and valve
position controls or indicators of LabVIEW to the input and
output blocks of Simulink model. When these three steps
have been done, the input of Simulink model can be real
time changed in LabVIEW environment on the running
mode; the output value of Simulink model also can
transmitted to the valve position output indicator in
LabVIEW [5].
In LabVIEW, the PVs (Process Value) are bound to the
DF51-AI-1.PV.VALUE and promag53-AI-1.PV.VALUE
tags of Smar.DfiOleServer; the valve position value is bound
to the fisher-AO.SP.VALUE tag.
running the LabVIEW program. The setpoint value also can
be changed online.
 In order to achieve remote control and monitoring, Web
y ( t ) = F ( x ( t ))
Publishing Tool of LabVIEW is used to publish the HMI to
the internet as a website. Customer only need to type the d
F ( x) = k k ( k ( x k )) (6)
address of the HMI in Windows Explorer web browser, the
k =1
client computer will get access to the server through
internet. Thus, client computer which connected to the
server can control and monitoring the system remotely [6].
Fig.4 shows the website of published HMI with IP camera
interface embedded.

IV. MODEL BUILT

A. Model of Single Closed Loop Flow Rate Control
In a constant pressure of water inlet (constant output
power of pump), a step signal is given to the valve position.
And flow rate will change to a steady-state value with the
change of valve position. Record all the data acquired during
this process, and import the data into MATLAB workspace
as workspace variables. Open the System Identification
Tool by command ident, chose import Time-Domain
Signals. Take the step signal as input signal, and the flow
rate as output signal. After identification, the simulated
output signal is shown in Fig.5.
Figure 6. The principle diagram of nonlinear ARX model identification
Where k is the unit nonlinear command; d is the number
of nonlinearity units; k, k, and k are the parameters of the
nonlinearity estimator [7].
The regressors are defined as u1(t-1), u1(t-2), y1(t-1),
and y1(t-2)
After identification, the simulated output signal is shown
in Fig.7.

Figure 7. Measured output and simulated output

Figure 5. Measured output and simulated output V. RESULT

The identified transfer function is: In this paper, single neuron PID controller is
implemented separately in single closed loop flow rate
K exp( Td s ) control and single closed loop nonlinear tank level control.
G (s ) = (5)
The result presents the control effect of single neuron PID
1 + T P1 s
algorithm on linear and nonlinear plants. The control
Where K=0.88997, Tp1=49.824, Td=30 diagram is shown in Fig.8.

B. Mode of Single Closed Loop Nonlinear Tank Level

Control
In a constant pressure of water inlet and constant output
valve position, a step signal is given to the digital valve
controller. The level of the tank will change to a steady-state
value with the changing of valve position. Record all the Figure 8. Control diagram of the system
data acquired during this process, and import the data into
MATLAB workspace as workspace variables. Firstly, use
A. Single Closed Loop Flow Rate Control
iddata command to define the input and output variables.
Secondly, use nlarx command to identify the nonlinear In this part, a step signal is firstly given to the system;
ARX model. In this process, chose wavenet as the when the flow rate becomes steady, another step signal is
nonlinearity. The principle diagram of nonlinear ARX given to the system. Record and observe the flow rate
model identification is shown in Fig.6. change during the whole process. In Fig.9, it shows that
single neuron PID controller has a quick respond and high
The predicted output of the model is: steady-state characteristic.

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a. Flow rate control chart
b. Valve position output signal chart
Figure 9. Single closed loop flow rate control
B. Single Closed Loop Nonlinear Tank Level Control
This nonlinear tank which used in the system can be
divided into two parts to describe. The top part is a cylinder,
and the lower part is a cone. This figure makes the tank has
a nonlinear characteristic. Besides that, the water goes
directly into the tank with out relief device that increase the
disturbance of the tank. A step signal is given to the system.
Record and observe the level and valve position change
during the whole process. Fig.10 is the nonlinear tank level
control chart. From this figure, single neuron PID controller
acts on nonlinear plant still shows a good steady
characteristic. Although there is a little overshoot exist, but
this can be overcome soon.
To sum up, it is apparent that the single neuron PID
controller implemented in FFIRCS by hybrid MATLAB and
LabVIEW has high feasibility. No matter to linear or
nonlinear plant, the single neuron PID controller presents
good steady characteristic. The linking response is quick and
has very small control lag.
a. Nonlinear tank level control chart
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b. Valve position output signal chart
Figure 10. Single closed loop nonlinear tank level control
VI. CONCLUSION
To enrich the control strategy of Foundation Fieldbus, a
single neuron PID controller based on hybrid MATLAB and
LabVIEW programming is presented. And this single
neuron PID controller is successfully implemented in
Foundation Fieldbus Intelligent Remote Control System. In
experiments of controlling linear flow rate and nonlinear
tank level, the single neuron PID controller which integrated
in FFIRCS shows good steady characteristic, quick output
respond and high robustness. It is clear that the single
neuron PID controller based on hybrid MATLAB and
LabVIEW is easy to realize. And it also has good feasibility
and control effect. At the same time, the single neuron PID
algorithm can extend to other intelligent algorithms to meet
the needs of different control requirements.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
This work is supported by New Century Teaching
Reforming Program of Zhejiang Province (No. ZC09038).
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